Radicalization in Public Schools

Why We are Concerned

Radicalization is not only manifested through the use of violence, but also through desiring to live by and impose sharia law on society.

One reason for the increased popularity of sharia is the radicalization of second- and third-generation Muslims in Western societies.

The school board said it believes that the checks and balances put in place will ensure that the Friday sermons are not used for radicalizing Muslim students; however, as laws against "Islamophobia" become a reality in Canada, and attempts to raise a concern are labelled hate speech, one should not count on it. With the passing of time, vigilance will be abandoned and people who express concern will find themselves vulnerable to bullying and defamation if they try to address an issue or crack down on a violation.

Saied Shoaaib, a Muslim authority and expert on political Islam, points out that the dilemma for Western societies is that the only version of Islam available to them is the radical version, mostly in mosques and Islamic schools, and also in public libraries.

The ongoing demand for the accommodation of Muslims in Western societies is a situation worth understanding. In the documentary "The Third Jihad", Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, an American Muslim who dedicates his life to fighting radicalization, explains that it is a cultural jihad that is meant to destroy our society from within -- slowly and gradually to impose the sharia way of life.

On January 10, 2017, I attended the Peel District School Board's meeting where recommendations for allowing Muslim students to write their own sermons (khutbah) for congregational Friday (Jumma) prayers in public schools were received. For more than 15 years, students were allowed to pray in the school but not in a congregational setting. In June 2016, the Jumma prayer was officially adopted but the students were only allowed to read from a list of pre-approved sermons.

Mississauga is one of three cities in the Peel region and the sixth largest city in Canada with high ethnic diversity and a population nearing one million. One of Mississauga's calls to fame is that it is home to at least eight members of the "Toronto 18" -- the first terrorist cell uncovered in 2006 and that aimed to create an Al-Qaida type of operation in Canada. Some of the 18 attended public schools: Saad Khalid, for example, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for pleading guilty to a single count of acting "with the intention of causing an explosion or explosions that were likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or damage property". He was known to have attended the Meadowvale Secondary School. There, he had started an Islamic Club and, in the lecture hall, had led Friday prayers, which he attended with fellow arrestees Fahim Ahmad and Zakaria Amara. If people like Khalid are the champions of organizing Jumaa prayers and Khutbah in their schools, it is no wonder that pre-scripted sermons were the way to protect public safety while allowing Muslim students still to practice their faith.

Today, radicalization in Western societies is becoming epidemic. It has become a reality of life in general, and an everyday concern to parents in particular -- especially parents who want their kids safe from terrorism as well as parents who want their kids safe from radicalization.

This crisis could not be more highlighted than by a segment recently aired by 1010 News Talk, ironically on the same day, the morning January 10, 2017: "What do you do if your child decides to join ISIS?" -- a topic that was probably unimaginable a few years ago, when protecting public safety trumped sensitivity, but has become a reality today as sensitivity seems to overpower protecting public safety.

The school board said it believes that the checks and balances put in place[1] will ensure that the Friday sermons not be used for radicalizing Muslim students; however, as laws against "Islamophobia" become a reality in Canada, and attempts to raise a concern are labelled hate speech, one should not count on it. With the passing of time, vigilance will be abandoned and people who express concern will find themselves vulnerable to bullying and defamation if they try to address an issue or crack down on a violation.

While the case of Ghada Sadaka, a principal in the York Region District School Board, is slightly different. She was forced to apologize for postings on Facebook and comments such as:

"A good start, but where is the voice of Muslims who are not extremists and of which they condemn these acts of terrorism. This is the time of vocalizing "where you stand"!!!"

Sadaka was simply posting her thoughts on social media without addressing a particular issue at schools. Yet, the purportedly moral war launched against her is only a pilot project: it is a warning to any other principal who tries to create awareness about radicalization or condemn it.

Radicalization is not only manifested through the use of violence, but also through desiring to live by and impose Sharia law on society. Under Sharia, polygamy is legal, honour crimes and female genital mutilation (FGM) are not punishable, amputations are welcome as a form of punishment, gays and apostates should be killed, and women's rights are no more.

A 2016 survey noted that one in four UK Muslims prefer to live under Sharia. This troubling finding led to former head of the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, who popularized the term "Islamophobia", to admit that he was wrong. He said: "I thought Muslims would blend into Britain... I should have known better." Today, the UK is plagued with having two parallel legal systems: the UK courts and the Sharia courts.

One reason for the increased popularity of sharia is the radicalization of second and third generation Muslims in Western societies. Uncovering the root cause of that radicalization can be found in the book Lovers of Death, authored by the Muslim authority and expert on political Islam, Saied Shoaaib. In his book, Shoaaib points out that the dilemma for Western societies is that the only version of Islam available to them is the radical version, mostly in mosques and Islamic schools, and also in public libraries. Even when he visited the Ottawa public library and handed them books that represent a more peaceful outlook on Islam to balance out what is already there, the library never considered including them in their Arabic language collection.

The idea of increasing the Islamic content in the public sphere is pathetic; especially in a society where so many people seem to have agreed that the founding Judeo-Christian values should take a back seat in an attempt to make everybody feel "included". These accommodations result in the immense risk to our freedom of speech and way of life. There is also an economic penalty, as in the reduced opportunities for employment and lost business recently highlighted by the closure of the Peugeot auto plant, due to the excessive prayer breaks requested by Muslims who constitute the majority of the workers.

The ongoing demand for the accommodation of Muslims in Western societies is a situation worth understanding. In the documentary "The Third Jihad", Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, an American Muslim who dedicates his life to fighting radicalization, explains that it is a cultural jihad that is meant to destroy our society from within - slowly and gradually to impose the Sharia way of life. Produced exactly 10 years ago, the documentary was re-released in 2017, to demonstrate how his accurate predictions of societal transformation have come to pass. Now, for an accurate prediction of where Canada will be in 2026 if we continue on the same path, one need to look no farther than the report, "The Islamization of Britain in 2016" at Gatestone Institute, by the meticulous scholar, Soeren Kern.

Two or more students can pray together on any other day but prayers would not be led nor include a sermon.

Students may write their own sermon (khutbah) or can use a sermon (khutbah) from a bank of prewritten sermons, obtained from the school MSA or a local faith leader.

Sermons will be presented in English, except for any verses quoted directly from the Quran.

Sermons must comply with the school code of conduct, the Education Act, its Regulations and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

As with all student activities in schools, appropriate disciplinary and corrective action will be taken where there are any contraventions of the Ontario Human Rights Code or the school code of conduct.

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6 Reader Comments

Dick Leppky • Jan 26, 2017 at 17:55

Is there not a prohibition against "Christian Prayer or Bible Study" in Canadian (Ontario) schools? This should have been addressed in the article as it is obviously very relevant!

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JON MC • Jan 26, 2017 at 11:00

"In his book, Shoaaib points out that the dilemma for Western societies is that the only version of Islam available to them is the radical version, mostly in mosques and Islamic schools, and also in public libraries."

I presume that this would be the "radicalism" espoused by the most important commentators such as ibn kathir, Maududi, Shafi, Qutb, al-Jalalayn, etc that are well-known by Imams (etc.).

In other words what it is is the ORTHODOX Islamic view that can be tracked back to Mohammed and the gang via the Sunnah.

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Gomer Wumphf • Jan 26, 2017 at 09:31

"Islamophobia" is totally rational. Muslims are killing people in the name of Allah in every country that has more than a few Muslims. They are killing people in the US, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Russia, China, India, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Nigeria, all over the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. The killing is always and everywhere blamed on the US or Israel or somebody – anybody – else. But the only constant is Muslims killing people. Muslims don't move to non-Muslim countries to assimilate. They do so to wage war. Islam IS the problem. There are 1.8 billion Muslims, if "only" 2% are jihadists there are 36 million jihadists. The videos of Muslims around the world celebrating the 9-11 attacks clearly demonstrate the percentage of jihadists is a lot higher than 2%!

Clearly anyone who is ready to blow him/her self up to kill others and get 72 virgins has a serious neurological problem. The rest of us can no longer just wait and hope. The most serious threat today is Islam. The US, EU, Russia, China, India and all non-Muslims need to unite to contain Islam, just as Communism was contained, until a cure can be found.

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Josephine Bacon • Jan 26, 2017 at 06:39

""Forty percent of Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands... according to a new report..." And those are just the ones who got caught! Why is the British Home Office not compiling similar statistics on refugees and asylum-seekers and the frequency of their appearances in the magistrates' courts for crimes of dishonesty, drug-dealing and attacks on women? It is the madness of "political correctness" that has led to the white backlash of populist politics.

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Hanna • Jan 26, 2017 at 06:28

The majority of Muslims will never blend into Britian, Canada or any other Western country --- the rest of society, the Westerners will have to blend into Islam, or else... that is what happens when one lets millions of barbarians into one's country with zero vetting. And yes Mr. Trevor Phillips, you should have known better. As for the attempt to make everybody feel included --- that is the biggest nonsense I have ever heard. If one does not feel included in "his" new country, one should go back to his old country, PERIOD. Unfortunately, we live in a completely upside down world. Instead of Muslims accepting Western customs, the Westerners have to accept not only Muslim customs --- they (Westerners) have to convert to Islam, or end up without their heads and necks. As I said many times, that is what happens when people act first and think later. What a mess!!! Thank you Maha Soliman and Gatestone.

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Terence Curry Hanna • Jan 27, 2017 at 06:11

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Hanna. Millions have been allowed in, without any checks, or even were they were all going to live. That they have formed their own ghettoes, and do not integrate speaks volumes, yet still we allow them in. We even provide interpreters for them. they didn't provide any for me. Even if they were to swear an oath of allegiance, it would mean nothing. they would not abide by it. Indeed the Qu'ran tells them not to. I have never heard of any other religion that allows, even encourages them to lie in order to spread their particular faith. Well our respective governments have already done the damage, but we are the one's who will pay for it. The German and Swedish models are prime examples. The incidence of rape alone has shot up. Why? because their own are sacred, while our women are apparently just asking for it by their dress.

Yet, my wife and I got a flight to Jeddah when I was working there, and the majority of passengers were Muslim. It was just after Ramadan, which shows what they thought of it by getting out of the way of the religious police. At the start of the flight, they were all dressed western style, and some of the mini skirts were high even by western standards. An hour before landing, just as we got into Saudi air space in fact, the toilets were all in use, as they into their normal clothing (normal for them) You never saw such a chaste lot of good Saudis going through customs.

The point being that this excuse about a western woman asking to be raped because of her dress is pure moonshine. It all means whatever they want it to mean at the time. This grooming of vulnerable young girls then passing them round like parcels of meat, which is in their minds all they are, has to be one of the worst crimes in the world. It is my Grandchildren I worry about, especially the girls. I will be roasting in hell (so Islam says) by then. I can only see one alternative, and that is global war with Islam. No one wants it, but Global islamisation is inevitable result without it.